Pride star Terrence Howard didn't quite realize what he was getting into when he began swim-training under the man he plays in the movie, Philadelphia swim coach Jim Ellis.

"I grew up swimming in Los Angeles, and I thought I'd be strong," the Academy Award-nominated actor says. "But I walked in there with my bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle to watch morning practice, and those kids were hustling! I got in the pool the next morning and could barely make it across the pool without being exhausted."

The McGriddles soon gave way to healthier breakfasts. But diet wasn't the only change Howard had to make.

"Learning to work with the water was a beast," he says with a laugh. "The water doesn't help you. It doesn't say, 'Terrence is tired; let's help him out and make him more buoyant.' "

Howard worked out for two months with Ellis and two other coaches near the film's New Orleans set. Eventually, he became more efficient, reaching the other end of the pool in 13 freestyle strokes instead of 20.

The flipturn — the somersault swimmers do at the wall to transfer power from one lap to the next — posed more of a challenge.

"It took about a week to get it right," he says. "Jim and the other instructors wanted to work on other things, but I wanted to stay on it."

And Howard plans to stay in the pool — or, in his case, the pond. He plans to perfect his freestyle in a lake he's having dug at his L.A. home.

He says he'll also be riveted to next summer's Beijing Olympics, especially the freestyle relays. "I love watching the anchor start from behind — it's like the Grinch coming to the top of the mountain and his heart becomes three times bigger and he saves the sled — that's what it's like when the anchor hits the water behind his opponent and saves the race."

That enthusiasm may help explain why, after Howard's breakthrough year in 2005, he picked Pride, about a swim coach who challenged 1970s racial stereotypes by building the Philadelphia Department of Recreation team into one of the nation's most respected programs.

A former high school and college swimmer, Ellis built the PDR team by luring kids away from the broiling basketball courts and into his pool. As his original cadre of swimmers developed their speed and stamina, they clashed with their white suburban opponents. But Ellis never ran afoul of the law, as the film implies.

"I spent a lot of time making sure I had good character because parents were bringing their kids to me," Ellis says. "At screenings, I've had to tell audiences that it was creative license."

In the 30 years since Ellis formed his team, he has sent hundreds of athletes to college on swimming scholarships, and a few have competed at major international meets. Now Pride is helping recruit a new generation.

"People want to try out for the team," Ellis says.

Zimbabwe-born director Sunu Gonera worked to "keep it real, stroke-wise. People are used to watching the Olympics, so you have to offer the visual stimulus they're used to."

The swimming proved to be a challenge for actors Kevin Phillips and Nate Parker, who were new to the sport. "They stepped up," Gonera says. "I was impressed."

One Pride star who didn't have to suit up in a Speedo is Bernie Mac, who plays the reluctant recreation center caretaker who becomes an aide to Ellis. His character is fictional, but Mac ran a similar facility in his hometown of Chicago. "There's a lot of things that are gonna tap on your heart. It gives the kids the chance to see that participating in sports is no punk."

Gonera echoes the sentiment. "In every community, kids are offered two alternatives — going the way of the bad guy or being disciplined. I hope that when parents see this, they'll encourage their kids to get involved."

It remains to be seen whether Pride will sink or swim at the box office, but NAACP Hollywood Bureau director Vic Bullock has faith in the film.

"You sell a movie like Pride by casting talented people like Terrence Howard, Bernie Mac and Kimberly Elise," he says. "The respect and trust from the quality of work they've participated in would give the audience faith that this is a picture they may respond to."

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Not afraid to get
wet: Terrence
Howard jumped
into the pool to
learn all about Jim
Ellis, right, the real-life
swim coach he
portrays in Pride,
opening today.

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